Tails of a Samurai
by Taranea
Summary: Like the wandering wind, Sonic is a roaming Samurai without a master. One day, a cry for help causes him to come to the rescue of a young kid - but there was a REASON the villagers wanted the little fox dead...
1. Chapter 1

**The Wandering Wind and the Fox of Fire:**

**Tails of a Samurai**

_By Taranea_

**Chapter 1:**_  
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Sonic took another slow step forward, his sprained ankle painfully reminding him that he wouldn't be running again any time soon. Nevertheless, it would take more than that to spoil his day – maybe he'd even find a healer in the next village. A fresh spring breeze was ruffling his quills and clothes as he walked through the cedar wood, carrying with it first hints of the summer season which would bring the rain again. A small smile crossed his face as his black nose twitched at the familiar, loved scent. No, it would have to take more than a simple hurt joint to ruin his mood…

_"No! Please, stop hurting me, I'm, I'm begging you…!"_

Such as wanton cruelty to a child, for example. Sonic's eyes narrowed as he heard the high-pitched wail, followed by a shriek and a sob of what sounded like a young boy or girl. Now ignoring the pain in his ankle, he quickened his step to reach the clearing up ahead where the sound seemed to be coming from.

"What is going on here?" he demanded in the authoritative voice his class adopted so easily and which he still longed to discard – but he had to admit, sometimes it came in handy.

The three figures, which appeared to be surrounding a small, crouched furry ball on the other side of the clearing, turned around. They were birds of prey, two males, one female, and dressed in the washed-out rags one would expect of thieves and thugs. Their leader, a hawk of brilliant green plumage and a worrying spark in his icy blue eyes immediately dropped into a belligerent, challenging stance, crossing his arms and spreading his tail feathers.

"Nothing that concerns you, _takashi_, scarecrow. We're just taking care of a problem here."

"Oh, really? Allow me to help," Sonic replied with slight sarcasm, his tone indicating ever so subtly that he was ready to become the *mother* of all problems if he so wished.

"The day we enlist the help of a filthy _rônin _is the day Storm here grows a brain," the female of the group, a pastel-purple swallow in a short white kimono-like jacket sneered. The clothespiece called _uwagi_ barely covered her upper thighs and Sonic briefly thought she could have been pretty, if it hadn't been for the cold in her turquoise gaze. Now his own eyes darkened. True, the insults were partly correct. He was indeed a rônin, a masterless, unemployed samurai, and the entire hedgehog looked like he'd seen better days. His wide, dark blue hakama pants were stained and torn at the hems, a tear here and there suggesting the wearer had been living it rough for a while. His own white, wide-sleeved uwagi tugged into the pants around his slender waist was already grey from the dust of the roads and his unkempt blue fur added to the appearance of a straggler. The only signs actually separating him in appearance from the rag-tag group currently facing him were the two swords at his side indicating his status, their sheaths looking well-used and battered but not old or neglected. Apart from that, the hedgehog's entire form looked slim under the folds of cloth, but whether that stemmed from being well-trained or malnourished was hard to tell. As he stepped forward though, his emerald eyes held not a single hint of weariness but instead glinted fiercely.

"I'll let that pass. Stop harassing that kid and leave now."

Sonic knew there were dozens of his peers who would already have drawn their sword and slashed the living daylights out of the three birds for their lack of respect, but unnecessary violence against other living beings ranked scarcely lower on his hate-list than bullying a small kit. He craned his head a bit to get a look at the fuzzthing at least so he would have an idea of who exactly he was trying to defend, but the bulk of the third member of the group was blocking his view. In fact, the chest of the grey albatross who had been called Storm was too broad even to be covered by his clothes. The hedgehog took another step forward, careful not to put too much weight on his injured foot, and immediately attracted a response.

"What the hell, you're _hurt_? You're trying to take on three others when you're all alone and _hurt?" _The girl swallow now sounded incredulous, but actually faintly amused.

"Shut up, Wave," the hawk with the wild head feathers and apparent leader of the group snapped her into silence. "He's still got swords, alright?"

"Yeah…" now the female called Wave sounded distinctly calculating. "And tell you what, I bet we could sell them for some decent money."

"Hmm…generally samurai like him hang onto their swords more stubbornly than mothers to their newborns, but I think you have an idea there…" the voice of the green bird took on a hint of newfound interest. "How about it, rônin, give us your swords and we'll let you live."

Sonic pretended to consider. "Will you leave the kid alone if I do?"

"Hell, no," Wave scoffed. "Can't you see what he is? We were just about to finish him off before you came along and got your pointy nose mixed up in things that are none of your business."

"Oy, my nose isn't _pointy!_" Sonic immediately shot back defensively, having to resist touching its tip as if to make sure it wasn't. Then again, noses and ears were a favourite body part of mammals to ridicule if you were a bird, so that had had to be expected. Sonic shifted into a more battle-ready stance. "You insulted me, threatened me and hurt a kit," he warned, "So I'm giving you one last chance to leg it before I invent KFC six centuries early."

"No idea what you're talking about. But I do know you need to learn some humility when addressing the _Yakitori Rogues_ – Group Name Pending," the leader of the group cleared his throat as if he'd just realized himself that statement needed some work. But he was entirely devoid of humour when he then waved a feathery hand at the grey albatross.

"Storm. Kill that spiky thing."

_To be continued..._

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Hi! New li'l story here, hope you like! :D Japanese overflow will stop next chapter, I promise, but I just couldn't resist the idea of a Sonic tale in medieval Japan. XD Right now updating from Nice, where the weather is awesome, but the jellyfish...hurt. A lot. Ow. But, still alive, and writing. :) Would love to hear what you think of this, if you read, please review? If there's interest, updates will be soonish...;)


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, awesome response for the first chapter! :D SO happy. I was hoping most jap terms (there's less in this chappie, really) would make sense from the the context, but, since a couple of you asked, here's a little list for those in this chapter:

-dono: honorary suffix - a bit like 'lord/boss'

wakizashi - short word

katana - long sword

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**Chapter 2:**

"As you say, Jet-dono…" the muscular bird uttered his first phrase and then took a step toward Sonic, drawing his own sole sword. Stolen, no doubt, the hedgehog thought.

Leaving his oppnonent no time for consideration, Storm charged, chipped blade held high overhead as he rushed to cut Sonic in half. The hedgehog waited until he was almost upon him before feinting to the left, then dodging to the right side, gracefully ducking under the swing of the blade and managing to trip the albatross with his bad leg in the process.

"Storm! Stop making an idiot out of yourself!" Jet shouted, drawing a blade of his own which was slightly more polished and ornate, but undoubtedly stolen as well. He advanced on the hedgehog who was now cornered in between the two males and was finally forced to unsheathe his own sword, too. The blue mammal glared at the two birds, warily. The albatross had scrambled back onto his feet and was now dangerously close. Knuckles whitened beneath peach fur as Sonic gripped his weapon more tightly; he knew that parrying the undoubtedly strong blows of the large bird would certainly spring the sword out of his grasp otherwise.

They both attacked at once. Sonic managed to dive and roll away from the clumsy strike of Storm, but the hawk was a more dangerous adversary, fleet-footedly dancing after the hedgehog and slashing at him before Sonic had even had time to get back up again. The blue hedgehog almost couldn't raise his own blade in time as he had to block the vertical strike from the bird while still kneeling in the dirt. Not being able to run was rapidly becoming a serious hindrance as the situation turned more dangerous by the minute.

"Right! _Say your last prayers, samurai_!" Wave shouted at this point, rushing towards him in his hopeless position with a blade of her own – shorter than those of the males, but no less deadly.

"You know, _announcing_ your attacks really isn't the way to-" Sonic started out of instinct, but by then both Jet's and Wave's swords were rushing to carve into his skin and years of ingrained reflexes took over with lightning speed.

His left hand drew his second sword, the smaller _wakizashi_, and raised it in time to repel Jet's second attack while his other hand moved to parry the female's blade with the katana, twisting his body around to keep both them in view. Before either of the birds could strike again, Sonic was already using his momentum to flip himself over backwards, using his one good leg and hand to somersault out of their midst. Wave and Jet immediately advanced to intercept his move, again aiming to strike when he was disorientated and vulnerable, but this time Sonic was prepared. While still in mid-handstand, his left foot lashed out backwards to hit Jet straight into the side of his face, sending him stumbling to crash his head into a tree with a sickening crack. Meanwhile, Sonic's free right arm holding the longer katana also whipped out and slashed Wave brutally straight across her belly. The girl screamed and dropped to her knees.

"_Wave_!" Storm hollered, only now regaining an overview over the situation and immediately rushing to the side of the girl who had mocked him so carelessly earlier. Sonic landed back on his feet as the purple swallow was now bent double, face screwed up and hugging her mid-section…before her face suddenly changed into a frown of confusion as she noticed that there was a suspicious lack of blood seeping through her feathers and clothes. Mind you, her belly still hurt like hell where the sword had struck her, but it was nothing in comparison to the agony of torn innards she had been expecting to feel…

"What…?" she questioned weakly as her own hand disbelievingly reached in and touched her unharmed belly under the jacket.

"It's a reverse blade," the voice of the unknown samurai informed her coolly. "Meaning, the front side of my sword is blunt. I don't kill."

Wave frowned, looking up. "Right. Do you know that that is a total rip-off of _Rurouni Ken_-?"

It was as far as she got before the flat side of Sonic's sword connected with her head, knocking her out cold instantly.

"Gods, I was hoping to go without that this time." Sonic turned to the last bird still standing and fixed him with a mildly irritated scowl. "Do I have to keep on fighting you, or will you take your companions and finally leave me alone?"

"Take my – wait, what did you do to him?" Storm pointed unsurely towards the green hawk still lying motionlessly underneath the cedar, only now noticing the uncharacteristic silence of his leader.

"I knocked him against a tree, what does it look like?" Sonic asked the grey bird a bit incredulously as the largest member of the Yakitori Rogues G.N.P. obviously had a bit of difficulty taking his cue from plain evidence. "So, anyway…I really don't wanna hurt you anymore than necessary, so I'm asking you to go. _Now_," the hedgehog said again and this time there was a bit of steel in his undertone that told even the non-Mensa member Storm that this was a bit of luck he shouldn't push. Wordlessly, he picked both of his frailer companions (who undoubtedly would have a pounding headache when they woke up…) from the ground, shouldering Jet while cradling Wave. He only shot Sonic a weak glare but obeyed as the hedgehog ordered him to leave the swords here.

The hedgehog waited until the tri-coloured bulk had disappeared between the trees before finally turning around to the kid that was still cowering at the edge of the clearing. To be honest, he was puzzled that the squirt hadn't run away while the adults had been fighting – to him, that would have seemed like the sensible thing to do. Maybe he was hurt that badly? As Sonic drew closer, he could see that it had to be some sort of fox or feline creature, unsure because the kit was hugging his knees and had buried his face in them, rocking forward and backward and whimpering slightly. Now Sonic was getting worried. Had they scared the little one that badly that he had gone into shock? Anger flared up in him again and he briefly considered going after the three Rogues once more to teach them another lesson but he quickly discarded that thought. That sure wouldn't help the kid right now.

"Hey…" Sonic managed, his gentle tone a bit unsure as he wasn't very used to employing it. He lightly laid a hand on the kit's golden-furred head and tried to stroke it to help him calm down. "It's okay, they're gone…"

"It hurts…"

"What?" Sonic suddenly was concerned. There was no blood visible but he couldn't really see the kit's entire body to check that they hadn't seriously injured him, either. "What hurts, li'l guy?"

"It _hurts_…so _much_…can't see…" the boy now almost seemed to be choking on the pain, and despite having been in countless battles before it still tore straight at Sonic's heart. There was just something fundamentally _wrong _with a world where people would hurt a child…

"Shh…I'll help you. Here, let me look at you, so I can see what's wrong…"

He gently forced the thin furry arms clamping around the kit's drawn-up legs apart and reached in to raise the little guy's tugged-in head. A puzzled expression briefly replaced his concerned one as he saw that for some reason the boy had a slip of paper stuck to his face, obscuring his features. Sonic frowned. As all samurai sons he had also enjoyed (read: spent a lot of time trying to _dodge…_) the usual lessons of calligraphy, literature and poetry once and was therefore able to easily read the characters scribbled onto the sheet with black ink. It was priest's script, a powerful seal to weaken demons' powers and condemn them to eternal torment.

"What the hell? Were they trying to be funny, or what?" Sonic murmured, not seeing the sense in wasting a perfectly good seal either way. "Here, no wonder you can't see. Lemme get this off ya mug, then we can sort the rest of you out…" He grasped the side of the paper and then carefully tugged at it so he wouldn't tear out any fur. The kid had suddenly gone very still, not moving until Sonic gave a last calculated pull and the thing came off.

And then, about the same time, the kit exploded.

_To be continued..._

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Heh, hope you liked! Only very short chapters, yes, but the updates are quick.^^ Hope you liked the li'l fight and are ready for the grand finale of the prologue...:P Over here, am still in south of France, but hopefully going to Monaco soonish. Yay for europe and mini-countries!


	3. Chapter 3

Sensei - Teacher

Amaterasu - Japanese Sun Goddess

Kannon - Goddess of Mercy

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**Chapter 3: **

"FREE!"

"What-?" Sonic was knocked backwards by an explosion of smoke, getting thrown onto his back. He immediately tried to raise himself onto his elbows to see what was going on, but then his eyes widened in shock.

"No!" he gasped hoarsely. In front of him floated a _kitsune – _the 'kid' he had so unknowingly saved was no kid at all, but a fox demon from the spirit world. Sonic felt his blood run cold. Horrible stories were told of kitsune and what they could do on a whim to mortals. Alien and not from this world, they had no feelings one would be able to understand – _except_ for terrible, bloodthirsty revenge when they had been angered.

_I have been so incredibly stupid,_shot through his head. _Those three weren't trying to hurt a kid but probably about to get rid of the demon terrorizing their village. _

Sonic was frozen to the spot for one, two heartbeats, his fight or flight instincts momentarily overwhelmed by the fear of the supernatural. The kitsune cocked his head, blinking two large, soulless blue eyes. His fur gleamed golden as the two tails, birthmark of his kind, swished in the air behind him. He hovered just two feet away from Sonic, regarding the hedgehog with what could almost have been construed as curiosity had this creature but been a living being. The blue-furred samurai knew he was dead. No doubt the kitsune would wreak his magical fury in a moment upon him, his treacherous ankle still hindering him from escape and this would finally be his end – alone, dirt-stained and forgotten on a forest floor all because he had made such a fatal error in judgement. Years ago, when he had been a lot younger, his sensei had told him that one day, his rashness and idiot impulsivity would bring his death, but Sonic had never believed him - until now. The hedgehog swallowed bravely, pulling together his courage as he prepared to face his death with the honour and dignity as would befit his class. He stared hard at the fox spirit, his voice calm and collected.

"Unleash your fury, kitsune. I am rea-."

The squeal and tackle-hug that came next took him very much by surprise, of course.

"_Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you-THANK-YOU!_"

"Wha-?" Sonic managed but gasped as his slender midriff was squeezed by two thin furry arms, driving the breath from his lungs as the weight seemed to settle on top of him. The hedgehog now was flailing wildly underneath his attacker, effectively cancelling any attempts at samurai-like dignity forever.

"I thought I was _done _for!"

"Help! Get OFF!"

"No one EVER helped me, not never!"

"Amaterasu! Kannon! Merciful Buddha! Any of you! HELP!"

"Can you take me home with you?"

"RAPE! …wait, what?"

There was a certain moment of silence. Sonic blinked as his brain tried to compute the conflicting audio information in relation to expectations. For the first time since the fox spirit had started attacking him, the hedgehog calmed down enough to properly behold the creature on top of him.

"Can we be best friends forever?" The fox now sounded vaguely hopeful.

"Huh?" Sonic replied intelligibly. "What did you say?"

"Whether we can be friends now," the kitsune repeated happily, twin tails now wagging in a disturbing manner. "I mean, 'cause you saved me 'n all!"

"…you're not going to unleash your magical fury on me?" Sonic frowned. The smaller kit was still straddling his chest and this encounter wasn't really playing out as expected.

"Uhm. Should I?" The kitsune looked puzzled.

"No!" Sonic hastily assured, then tentatively tried to sit up, which the spirit let him, sliding effortlessly into his lap. The hedgehog felt a bit out of sorts, as if they were trying to perform a Shakespeare play and someone had substituted his script with a Monty Python quotes collage.

"Uh, look…" he began, then stopped. Look _what_? He tried to focus on the things the fox spirit had said. "So you…want to be my friend?" he asked.

"Yeah – if, if that's alright with you, I mean," the kitsune replied quickly, nervous fingertips poking together bashfully. "I know people always run away screaming from me usually but I thought that was because you know maybe I smelled bad and so I took a bath this morning but I didn't have soap and-"

Sonic at that point clamped a hand across the other's mouth simply to get a word in.

"Woah, hold it. Look, no offence, but you're…" he wasn't sure how to word that sentence. Technically, he wasn't sure _what_ the other was. He certainly wasn't behaving like the malicious kitsune he had heard of and as far as he knew, the old stories had never mentioned glomping as a form of magical attack, either. In fact, this spirit fox so far had behaved much more friendly towards him than the three fellow mortals he had encountered earlier….finally making up his mind, the hedgehog visibly relaxed.

"Yeah, sure. We can be friends." He smiled.

"Awesome! So, can I come with you?"

"Wait, _what?" _

The fox blinked again. "Come with you," he insisted. "We can travel the world together and save princesses!"

"Travel the world. And save princesses." Sonic repeated the words, wondered whether they would make more sense if arranged in a different order, and then decided that they didn't. "You know, _actually_, I'm just trying to get by," he said, hoping he wasn't causing another mystical misunderstanding here. "Not many princesses in my line of work."

"But…you're a samurai! Everyone knows you ride on your noble steed, and fight heroically in wars, and slay wicked demons, and serve your Lord with everlasting loyalty, and are _so cool_ while doing it!"

There was a pause. Sonic tilted his head.

"…you haven't by any chance been reading those newfangled _manga_-things, have you?"

"Mayyybe….?" The little kitsune replied with a bit of a shifty look. "I sometimes disguise myself as a kid and sneak into the village when the travelling book salesmen are there. That was when they caught me, actually. Thank heavens you were there!"

"Yeah. Right," Sonic nodded, at last taking the little guy of his lap and placing him on his own two feet on the floor. The fact that the kit immediately started to float afterwards made that last action a little bit superfluous, but the hedgehog at least could get up. "You know, not everything you've read is necessarily true in real life. I don't, for example, own a horse. _Dated_ one, once, but…"

"That's okay. I like walking anyway. Floating." The fox spirit still smiled.

"I don't fight in wars, either. Firmly believe in surviving, see."

"…okay. Well, I'm sure there's _other _things that-"

"And if I was to 'slay wicked demons', that would put me at a bit of an impasse with you," Sonic pointed out, by now actually starting to find the whole thing slightly amusing. Even as strange as he was, the hedgehog had to admit that the two-tail actually _was_ rather cute…

"Oh." The young kitsune frowned for a bit as if it had only just occurred to him that a demon slayer might be difficult to have for a best friend if you were not exactly mortal. Then his face quickly lit up again.

"Not a problem! Because I'm not wicked, see? At least I don't think I am," he added with a bit of a thoughtful look. "I mean, I don't actually know what 'wicked' _means_, but I'm sure I'm something else…"

"Yeah, I'm sure people would agree on that one," Sonic had difficulty not to laugh, to the confusion of the small spirit. This was turning out to be the strangest day. He hadn't thought he'd feel this light-hearted with another person again…

"Oooooh!" the kitsune snipped his fingers. "I know! I know! Even if you're not riding or fighting or slaying, you still serve your Lord, right? That's what a samurai does!"

And then there was the memory once more, cold and empty and torn.

"…no." Sonic's tone sounded the same as before, but to the fox spirit of nature it seemed as if those eyes which up until now had resembled fresh spring leaves in their colour had suddenly become the dark fir needles of winter. The chill in the hedgehog's gaze made him shudder.

"I don't even do that. I'm a rônin. My lord is...gone."

"…" The young kit was obviously at a loss to reply here. Sonic snorted without humour.

"And now listen to me sounding completely pathetic, too. So much for that last point on your list, 'looking cool', huh?"

"…I think it's okay to be sad sometimes. I've read that kitsune are not supposed to be sad either, but I usually am," the little spirit said while actually looking so serious about it that if Sonic had been a girl, he probably would have melted and/or buried the sprite in a Momma Bear hug at this point. As it was, the blue hedgehog samurai mostly was already fighting a losing battle against his feelings at the moment anyway. He sighed.

"Now why would you be usually sad?"

"Nobody wants to play with me. The kids from the village hate me and whenever I meet another kitsune, they're old and only interested in hugging grown-up people."

"…oh." Sonic had heard of the legends concerning kitsune usually adopting the guise of a pretty female mortal and then proceeding to suck the money/life force out of some unfortunate guy who fell for them (or just marrying him, but some people argued there was no difference to the former), and therefore the hedgehog could guess that it probably wasn't so much 'hugging' the fox spirits were interested in, but…well.

"I guess that sucks, huh?" he offered as comfort a bit awkwardly, the traditional education of a samurai warrior never having included basic fox psychology for some reason.

"Yeah. Plus, almost all of them are girls. I don't think there's many boys like me."

_So you're actually male? _Sonic would almost have asked, but didn't. He hadn't been too sure up until now, but had the distinct impression that a 'kitsune fury' could still be on the cards if the little guy was rubbed the wrong way.

Well.

That, or 'kitsune hissy fit', but neither of them would be too pleasant.

"Say, what's actually your name?" the fox spectre piped up, looking curious. "I bet it's something cool and noble, like Amidamaru, the Devil Who Slayed Hundreds, or Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Brother of the Emperor, or Miyamoto Musashi, finest swordsman in the entire country or-!"

"Sonic. It's Sonic."

"- oh. No title?"

"Sonic…the Hedgehog?"

The spirit frowned. "…that sounds weird."

"Hey! Did I make fun of your name?" the blue-furred rônin bristled, immediately going into defensive mode. He _liked_ his name, thankyouverymuch.

"No. Because I don't have one," the fox pointed out diligently. "Unless you count 'Get him!', I suppose…."

Sonic heaved a very deep sigh, wondering whether there actually was some sort of schooling orphans and waifs went through to achieve the most massive pity effect or something.

"Tell ya what, how about I give you a name?" the hedgehog suggested, scratching the side of his head as he looked at the other curiously. As predicted, the little spirit immediately exploded with enthusiastic smoke.

"A name? Like, you know a…_people name_?" he asked, uttering the words with awe as soon as he'd returned to his corporeal floating form again. Sonic was still busy coughing, but nodded.

"Uh, yeah. If you like."

"Yes! Yesyesyes!" the kit agreed hastily. "I could be called…_Kyûbi no Yoko_, the mighty Ninetail able to unleash _tsunami_ or crush mountains, or, or, _Kirin, _the magical creature that can found or overthrow kingdoms, or _Kusanagi, _the legendary sword given to the emperor by the sun goddess, or-!"

"Actually, I was thinking to call you 'Tails'."

"_What?_!"

"It's that or _Pikachu_, the hyperactive mouse."

"But that doesn't sound fear-inspiring at _all_!" the fox protested. Sonic raised an eye ridge.

"And considering you were lonely all your life and just almost got exorcised by villagers you had obviously been scaring the hell out of, you'd want to have a name like that…why?"

"…oh." The spirit blinked. "That makes sense, I suppose."

"It does," Sonic agreed. "And besides, a name shouldn't be a boast, but the essence of what you are."

"Oooh, I see," the little one nodded. "So, your name means…" he frowned. "…that you're really loud?"

"No! I am really _fast_!" the blue hedgehog corrected, just a little bit peeved. "You know, if you keep that up, I'm gonna change your name into 'Fuzzbrain' instead."

"Don't you dare!" the fox immediately flinched. He shook himself, appendages bunched up. "After all, what kind of samurai would want a travelling companion called Fuzzbrain anyway…?"

_Wait, what? _"You want to travel with me?"

"Sure! I mean, we're friends now and I've never been happy here anyway…"

"And what makes you think I'd take you along?" Sonic asked, a little bit confused. It wasn't that he didn't like the kit, but he'd actually gotten used to his lone wandering life and he wasn't sure whether having a kitsune for company was really the wisest choice…to his surprise, though, the two-tail then actually looked a little bit smug.

"What makes _you_ think you could stop me?" He grinned. "I am a shapeshifter. If I wanted to, I could assume any guise I'd like and follow you anyway and you'd never know it was me 'cause I'd look different every day. See?"

Sonic's eyes grew wide as with another puff of smoke, the little fox suddenly had vanished…and he was staring straight into his own eyes, a perfect replica of himself staring right back at him where the spirit had just been. "How's it feel to look at yourself without a mirror?" his own voice asked.

Sonic pursed his lips. "Actually, not to bad, I think I'm pretty hot…except for the two tails, of course. That looks _really _freaky."

"What?" With a shocked explosion, the little fox turned around, and then already collapsed into his former self. "No! That's not fair! That _always_ happens!" he complained.

Sonic couldn't help a grin.

"Fine, then. I'll take you along, if only because you probably would get yourself killed if I didn't. But no more transforming into me, alright?"

"Thank you!" the spectre lit up like a fireworks display at Sonic's words and immediately threw himself at the hedgehog in a hug. "And maybe we can work some more on my name, too…?"

"Nah, I think I like it. But we could always change it to another language. In the ancient tongue, "Tails" means "Shippô", so if you like that better-"

"I _think_ that name is already taken," the kitsune pointed out carefully, before shaking his head. "I'll give it some more time. After all, it does sound like we belong together, at least…"

Sonic wondered why he suddenly felt as if the sun had come out again, but was then surprised as a little hand sneaked into his own.

"Ready to go?" Tails asked.

Sonic nodded and smiled. "Wherever the wind takes us."

_Fin_

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_Hi there! Well, after three chapters the end of the prologue has been reached and I hope you liked! As for Sonic's backstory, the extent of Tails' powers and the actual plot of the story, I'm afraid you might have to wait until I actually get started, but shouldn't be too long...'Life could have been so different' is entering its final stage and after that, I've got a new free slot. :P If you read, please review? As for traveling, just returned from Monaco and apart from the awesome snorkeling to be done there, I think I'm pretty sure I *might* have seen a quick blue streak zipping by on the formula one racetrack as I walked past...:P


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